Baburra

This is the first time I'm hearing of it, and it does sound somewhat plausible, although, I doubt it would give the same effect as learning all the words or just learning it the traditional way. I suppose it would be good enough to get you by which could be useful if you are just planning to vacation somewhere temporarily.

Yes, I think it's a good way to go about it because it just adds even more reasons or motivation as to why you would like to learn a particular language. I myself like to watch a lot of Japanese shows, and I felt like reading subtitles just doesn't cut it since I lose a lot in the translation - especially because a lot of those shows are comedies and jokes usually are very hard to translate, so I just chose to learn Japanese so I could understand it first hand.

I've written a lot of essays in Chinese, but that's about it. I think essays are easier because they basically are of the same structure in any language, whereas poems tend to have more art to them and you can't always just use practical words as a majority.

I tried this once, but I ended up just remembering the words from one of the languages I was learning and the other one didn't stick, so I ultimately just decided on sticking to one language and focusing on it instead.

I think this is a very good tip. I used to try and learn one new word a day in English, and it helped me a lot with molding my vocabulary into what it is now, so I also just try to apply the same concept for learning other languages.

Videos on Youtube is a staple of mine for learning a different language. First off, you get to hear it and see the person speak it, so you get a wide range of references. It's also great for getting the pronunciation and accent down and sometimes, you also get some additional tips from the video maker that you otherwise would not have gotten if you had studied from a more formal resource.

I think it's a very unique concept. I'm hesitant about the part that I may lose money, though, but it is still interesting enough to at least be worth a shot. Good luck with your new app, and I will be trying this out. :punk:

I thought about the words that have two or more meanings the other day as I like to think about these things when I'm bored or doing chores, also because I am very interested with etymology and how words originated and developed. Anyway, I specifically thought of the word "over" and how it could mean either to go past the limit or to say something is finished or done, and even though they are arguably very similar in meaning, they still can mean two very different things. Do you guys know of any other words like this that have two meanings? I'd love to hear them as I'm drawing a blank right now. :wacky:

I'd recommend starting by reading comic books, and if you find them boring then maybe go for something more "mature" like graphic novels. They are very good for learning individual phrases and the dialogue isn't too technical and complicated, usually. I also think it's much better to learn this way because if you learn it from a technical standpoint then you risk getting confused by the rules and terminologies whereas if you read comics then you will eventually just "get it" before you know it. I read a good amount of comic books when I was younger and it's a major reason why I had an easy time with English classes when I got older.

Schadenfreude is my favorite because as far as I know there is not any other language that has a word specifically for this instance, which is so surprising because it happens so often for so many people. Also, I just think the word itself is very amusing and sounds very nice.

If I could understand it well enough, then I'd almost always opt for the original text the media is presented in whether it be in literature or in films/TV shows. Like you, I am sometimes bothered by what gets lost in translation, and it's why I think some of theses media are worth it to learn a new language for just so you can experience them in their purest form.

I think language breaking off into other sub-languages is natural, as we always see smaller groups within bigger ones develop their own sub cultures and languages. It's probably just natural for people who spend a good amount of their time in said group to develop into an official subgroup. As for tracing the language back, I was taught a bit of this when I was learning Chinese, and it is indeed very interesting because you get to see how the Chinese characters started out as once only being drawings, and now it's evolved into a whole language with pretty much a word/word combination for almost every thing and event imaginable.

I imagine France and Japan are probably two countries who don't teach English in their schools because as far as I know, most of the adults in these countries don't speak English very much. I could be wrong, though, since I've never really went to any of the schools in these countries myself, so this is just a presumption of mine.

I consider myself to be fairly well versed in English, but every now and again, I will still come across some words that I do not know the meaning of, so I do still look up some definitions online from time to time. I also had a practice of trying to learn a new word everyday back when I was younger by means of looking up a word in the dictionary and trying to use it within the day so it sticks. I've since then stopped doing this, but I did manage to learn a lot of words during this time.

Yes, I've wanted to quit on learning a few languages a lot of times, but I eventually always decide against it because my want to learn a new language always outweighs my laziness or incompetence. :grin: I'm currently learning French and thought of quitting because I just can't get many of the pronunciations right, but I thought to myself that I should just continue anyway and just worry about the proper pronunciations later on when I'm more used to the language as a whole.

I'd recommend just studying the traditional characters and then maybe branch out to the simplified versions later on. I think knowing the original version is much better because you gain a lot more insight into the history and essence of particular words since they are still mostly pictographs which tell a lot of the history of the culture, whereas you might not get the same effect on the simplified versions even if you do get to write them faster.

I'd recommend bringing along a traveler's dictionary as well instead. I don't think Google translator would prove to be very effective, as that's probably only mostly used for rough translations to get an idea of what's being said, but otherwise, it will most likely not be able to paint a good enough picture for some of the instances you need to communicate. I'm sure there is one or two free apps out there, so I'd just recommend finding those instead.

I'm not sure if this is universally used, but I'm fairly sure it is. I'm referring to the term "One note" when speaking of a person who only has one type of routine that he or she just repeats over and over and presents it as different only to be called out on it by the few who start to notice. Generally, I think it's used with a negative connotation and may probably be similar to what people call a "hack".

I'm not really that much interested in learning uncommon languages, to be honest, since my own native language is already arguably a less common one. Still, I don't see studying more obscure languages as pointless, as it's all mostly about personal enrichment and satisfaction anyway with the other uses being a bit secondary, in my opinion.

I still own a Japanese translation book, and even though the terms there might be a bit outdated since it was a book that was published a long time ago, I still find it very fun and educational. I think opening up a book is a little more fun than using a tablet or a laptop to read and learn since it's much more focused and feels a lot less like actual studying, but that's just me and it's why I hope it never goes out of fashion.

The most unique one to my language which is Filipino, I think, is for the frog which is kokak. I always did kind of find that particular one amusing, more so than the others.

I remembered another word just now- "asinine". It means "stupid" and it probably is still used a few times here and there but I'm guessing it would be pretty rare. I rarely hear or read it being used, probably because it kind of sounds a bit old fashioned and nowadays we're more used to more casual terms.

I recently got curious as to why the term "to coin a phrase" was the way it is. I associated coins to be button-like objects made of silver and I really couldn't figure out how it could have ever been used as a verb which didn't even relate to currency. Fortunately, we now have the internet and I don't need to lose sleep over such trivia. For those who are interested, I looked it up and wish to share with our community. Here is the explanation: Source: Phrases.org So apparently, coin wasn't even originally the term of the item itself and only got the name from the mold used to make it - similar to "stamp", I guess - and that seems to have been the idea behind using it in the same way someone would mold or stamp a new phrase. Who here knew about this origin? Am I alone in not getting the term right away? :confused: Also, please do share some of your known interesting etymologies here!

Yes, I think it's very useful because it allows people to glimpse history in a more in-depth way and also it allows us to know where our words evolved from. In many cases, words tend to lose or change their meanings as time passes. The study of ancient languages allow us to keep in touch with the origins enough that we never completely lose the meanings of the modern words.

I think it would only happen if each individual country's government enforced it, but until then, we'll always have other languages. English is already present and available to use as a global language now, but not all countries use it, still, so I think a new global language isn't really entirely necessary but rather just support from the other countries and a decision to utilize it more prominently. As for the pros and cons, I think it would pretty much be like as we are doing here now only on a larger scale, and whether that would be good or bad, I don't really know, but I'd lean towards it being more advantageous since we could learn from many more people than the current state. Granted, said people won't be forced to give up their own culture and language for the new global one, since that would eliminate the benefits that could be derived from it.